This invention relates to a process for diagnosing diseases, and more particularly relates to a process for diagnosis of various rheumatological and arthritic disorders.
In testing for rheumatological and arthritic disorders, it is routine procedure for a physician to order an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test from a laboratory and receive a report on the results. The results are reported as positive and negative, along with the titer and the type of antinuclear antibody immunofluorescence pattern. The doctor was then left to his own devices as to how to interpret and treat the patient. Frequently, the doctor would order subsequent tests after a period of time because he was not sure of his diagnosis or the treatment that he began was not producing any results. These second tests usually occurred after a delay of weeks and sometimes months and would be performed on another serum speciman taken from the patient. Such delays in time and differences which can occur because of different serum specimens introduces numerous variations which could affect the accuracy and interpretation of subsequent tests. For example, there are statistical variations, laboratory variations, blood variations, or patient condition variations which can intervene, causing misinterpretation or errors in the testing results. These problems occur because the doctor does not realize immediately that the additional tests are necessary, or what tests are necessary and is operating on a somewhat trial-and-error procedure. The variations introduced because of delays cause considerable confusion and in many cases they order inappropriate laboratory tests based on the results received. The new diagnostic process disclosed herein eliminates the variations and solves a problem of inaccuracy and inappropriate testing.